Food & Drink

Best New Age Food Truck Orange County 2010 - Barcelona OnTheGo

Meter maids and cops may point the finger at Kogi for inspiring a flock of gourmet taco trucks eager to follow it into success. But despite all its hype and parking violations, without Kogi, we might never have made the acquaintance of Barcelona OnTheGo, a truck that kinda sets the whole roach-coach thing on its head. Chimichurri-drenched steak with hand-cut fries? Yes! Actually good paella cooked in a giant pan with seafood and saffron? Hell, yes! Owner Esteban Nocito, a natural-born PR man, is a charm machine who will ask your name and even remember it. You can't begin to count the groupies who follow this Argentinean pied piper's Twitter feeds. They come to meet the man and nibble on his food. Empanadas? They're screaming-hot out of the fryer, crimped edges holding in white-meat chicken. And soup! Did we mention he serves soup with lentils and smoked ham? He does. After the first sip, you'll think, "Why doesn't the dude stop all this silliness and just open a goddamn restaurant?"

Oh yeah, forgot one thing. Piaggio doesn't even come close to BOTG. BOTG has much better menu, friendlier service, better tasting food. Go to any food truck summit and see who has the longest lines. It ain't Piaggio.

BOTG is definitely one of the best food trucks out there. I've eaten from this truck more times than any other truck. It's always quality food and there's always something new to try. And Esteban is the best. He always remembers my name. If you try just one food truck, this is it.